Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Allah Malik Kazemi yesterday told The Daily Star that the government had borrowed money under a definite programme and monitored the situation cautiously to make sure that this borrowing does not have any negative impact.

Responding to a July 12 report of The Daily Star headlined "Borrowing binge," he said the borrowed money is lying with the banks as the government's deposit and the BB has withdrawn the money through reverse repo (repurchase agreement) to ensure that money supply is not increased.

Though the government's bank borrowing marginally exceeded the target, the overall borrowing will be less than the budget target, he added. The target of borrowing through savings instruments was Tk 4,000 crore, but the amount may be a little more than Tk 3,000 crore in this sector, he explained.

A high official at the Finance Division said the government borrows money from the banking sector to meet the budget deficit and it is very much within the sustainability.